They identify seriously ill minors, make public their story and collect large sums of money in donations made by people. Later, the beneficiaries are referred to a hospital in Turkey, where doctors simulate surgery, RISE Moldova says in an investigation featuring the platform Caritate.md that was published on February 19. On the other hand, platform co-founder Svetlana Sainsus said she bears no blame and was slandered without any evidence. On a social networking site, this published a posting in which she insults the journalist who wrote the article, IPN reports.
“Bravo!, rise.md for a feature full of “proofs”. Liuba Shevchuk, why don’t you publish my personal conversations that you have? Why don’t you say that mister X has threatened me during two years with my liquidation because I hamper and am a too big hero and that you received money for the feature? (…) Did someone say that I took any money? I didn’t take more money than you, Liuba. Don’t bother,” Sainsus wrote on Facebook.
Contacted by IPN, prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases Vitalie Busuioc said that requests to confirm or reject the facts depicted in the RISE Moldova investigation were made last July to a number of states within the criminal case started over this case. The results of the inquiries are not yet ready and the investigation cannot be thus completed.
“The investigation conducted within this case by the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases is a much broader one and covers the circumstances depicted in the RISE investigation. As regards the investigation, we cannot enter another phase as we need clear and pertinent evidence, not only statements. We need conclusive evidence showing that money transfers or interventions were made or not. Therefore, we are still at the investigation stage,” stated Vitalie Busuioc.
In an official reaction, RISE Moldova said it will file a complaint to the Prosecutor General’s Office over the acts of intimidation, pressure and attacks on persons by representatives of Caritate.md on journalists of RISE Moldova. According to RISE, shortly after the publication of the teaser of the video investigation Alexandru Rusnac, one of the founders of the Foundation “Sfantul Gheorghe”, which owns Caritate.md, sent a number of intimidation messages to RISE journalist Liuba Shevchuk.
In continuation, a picture of the journalist with the message “We seek help from her” was published on Caritate.md. Before and after the publication of the investigation, journalists said they received numerous messages and phone calls from persons who presented themselves as “from Missis Svetlana”.
